“8/16”: THE NEW HELMS ALEE VIDEO IS AN AWESOME, HILARIOUS RECREATION OF FAMOUS CLIPS FROM THE LATE 80s/EARLY 90s

Okay, so I was working on a new “Cinemetal Round-Up,” and I’m sitting here watching Helms Alee’s new video, “8/16,” and… it’s friggin’ good I just HAD to give it its own post.

Basically, the clip sees the band doing incredibly spot-on, and therefore totally hilarious, recreations of a lot of famous videos and video-related-programs from the late 80s and early 90s, including Metallica’s “One,” Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” Alice in Chains’ “Would?”, Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Close My Eyes Forever,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge,” Pearl Jam’s “Alive,” Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike,” N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton,” Gerardo’s “Rico Suave,” and Beavis and Butt-Head. (There’s also at least two references I’m not sure I get — the window splatter just after the two minute mark may or may not be a version of a similar shot in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, and there’s a hair metal video being parodied towards the end that I can’t readily identify. If anyone knows what these shots are actually from, please please please do let me know!)

This goes beyond just the band and director Andrew Cox sitting around and going “Oh, hey, remember this?” They clearly had to watch and study close each and every video they were going to recreate — because they do it with a fantastic eye for detail. Furthermore, the actual execution of all these other works must have taken a LOT of work. (They raised the money for the video via Kickstarter, in case you’re wondering how they were able to afford this in the first place.)

Seriously, this video is a MUST WATCH. Do it now, you will thank me afterward.

“8/16” appears on Helms Alee’s Weatherhead, which is now on Hydra Head. You can read an awesome interview that The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley conducted with the band on our behalf right here.

-AR

Thanks to Jonathan for bringing this incredible video to our attention!